Character Death in Fiction

This is something every author has to deal with at some point, especially in a series. When do you decide to kill off a character? And why? And also, how do you justify it to the reader? As both an author and a reader, I have been saddened and/or disappointed by the death of a character. I have also welcomed it in some cases.

One of my books (I won’t say which b/c I don’t want to spoil for future readers) felt like something was missing while I was writing it. Then it came to me. A certain character had to die for it all to come together. So I scrapped a large chunk of the book and began rewriting to make it work. When the time came for the axe to fall on that particular character, it was really hard to let it happen. I felt like I didn’t want to watch even though I was the one allowing it.

I had formed a personal attachment to the character that had been a form therapy for me, letting me get out some personal stuff in a fictional way. Killing them was like closing a door. Or so I thought. I won’t elaborate but that character has since haunted me. Of course I have killed others and never looked back.

As a reader I have literally cried over the death of certain characters. And I’m sure I’m not the only one. Sometimes I see no clear reason for it and other times it’s crystal clear. Again I’m using Buffy as an example even though it’s a show, not a book. Joss Whedon was never above killing off a character. He seemed to thrive on the pain it caused us solely because it held meaning. I could be wrong but that’s how I interpreted it. He took away Angel, Spike, Anya, Tara, Buffy herself and Buffy’s mom, to name a few (even though some of them came back).

So readers and authors, tell me how you feel about character death. Can you accept it when there is a just reason? Or do you feel those you love should never depart the fictional worlds they live in? And if you kill your characters, those you love and cherish, why?